Maybe Google just couldn’t find this story on the Internet? Uh… on little-known Interwebs site, Instapundit?:

THE END OF OBJECTIVITY AT GOOGLE? “Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It’s a historic statement – and nobody has yet grasped its significance. . . . None of this would matter, if it wasn’t for one other trend: a paralysing loss of confidence in media companies.”

UPDATE: A reader emails:

I work at Google, so naturally this was of great surprise and interest to me. Two thoughts:

1) Notice the article does not link or even quote anyone from Google saying that its staff will make selections.

2) I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the various tech publications, but the Register is known as trash to basically everyone. Read with caution.

If Google disavows this, I’ll certainly post on that.

No update on that, but then again, it’s a Sunday afternoon. Even on the Internet, everyone gets a day off.

The emailer’s comment is compelling. The Register story is unsourced, which screams out “sloppy” at best, “irresponsible” at middling and “defamatory” at worst. But we’d sure love to know more about the genesis, and the official truth or falsity as the case may be, of this story! So in case anyone from Google reads these particular tubes of the Internets on a Sunday eve, by all means send along denials, clarifications or whatever else you’ve got and we’ll make sure it gets out there.

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Author:Ron Coleman

The question of whether consumers are likely to be confused is the signal inquiry that determines if a trademark infringement claim is valid. This blog is about trademark law, copyright law, free speech (mostly as it relates to the Internet) and legal issues related to blogging.

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